An item of old that is to be found discarded in the overgrown hedges and ditches of the Ox Mountains is the blacksmith’s gate. These are not gates once owned by blacksmiths, but gates once made by blacksmiths.

The day is getting closer. A day which many will say is like nothing we have experienced before. On 5th November, the people of the United States will decide who will be their next president.

In the voluminous annals of papal history, few tales are as grotesquely fascinating as the posthumous misadventures of Pope Pius XII, the Pope who led the Catholic Church through the tumultuous years of World War II and beyond.

Stephanie Fitzgerald has a deep passion for improving children’s social and emotional well-being. The Westport native’s journey has seen her become a driving force in the field of educational psychology.

Donald Trump’s face is set in concentration, wading through almost hip-high floodwaters on some overcast, unknown street. He appears to be listening to his companion, likely discussing the extent of the inundation.

These are tough times to be a woman in politics. Especially a woman with ambitions to lead. Mary Lou’s ambition to be our next Taoiseach was never really on, barring an extraordinary set of unfortunate events falling down on the ruling coalition.

Neither Patsy O’Brien nor Martina Jennings are running in the upcoming general election to be makeweights or build for the future. Both are going with the full intention of taking a Dáil seat.

A lot can happen in a very short time. Or as the former British prime minister, Harold Wilson, was reputed to have said during one of the UK’s seemingly never-ending crises in the 1960s, ‘A week is a long time in politics’.

There is a certain something about a pot of homemade jam; the craft of preserving summer fruits, the colour, the aroma, the joy in its making and the pleasure in its eating.

Claremorris native Debbie Cullinane has built a successful career as a child and adolescent psychotherapist, a career you can clearly see brings her joy when she talks about it.